Obama dominates weak news media with full-court press

Although the White House basketball court is still under construction, President Obama on Tuesday got in a quick game of hoops, throwing some sharp elbows, batting down weak shots and eventually falling back into a one-man, four-corners defense to run out the clock.

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His opponents, the White House press corps, looked at times like the Washington Generals, known for their long-running losing streak against the invincible Harlem Globetrotters. The president put on a clinic of fancy dribbling just like Curly Neal, and even played Meadowlark Lemon to the Huffington Post’s Nico Pitney, when he asked the Internet site “reporter” to lob up an alley-oop question so he could slam-dunk the answer.

“Nico, I know you, and all across the Internet, we’ve been seeing a lot of reports coming out of Iran,” Mr. Obama said from the podium. “I know there may actually be questions from people in Iran who are communicating through the Internet. Do you have a question?”

“Yes, I did,” said Mr. Pitney, who, according CBS News’ Mark Knoller, said the White House called him Tuesday morning and invited him to ask an Iran question at the news conference.